The employee who fired off the "incoming ballistic missile threat" alert, sending the Aloha state into a panic, was fired too, despite his believing that there was a genuine emergency.

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"Gen. Miyagi, a respected military leader and honorable man, has taken full responsibility and submitted letter of resignation today," state Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Joe Logan said Tuesday, the Star Advertiser reported.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday blamed the erroneous warning on a miscommunication, Reuters reported. The employee responsible was unaware that they were amid a training exercise and intentionally sent out the alert on Jan. 13.

"Ballistic missile inbound to Hawaii!" the message read. "Seek immediate shelter this is not a drill."

Cars drive past a highway sign that says "MISSILE ALERT ERROR THERE IS NO THREAT" on the H-1 Freeway in Honolulu. (Cory Lum/AP)

The false alarm, sent to mobile devices and broadcast stations across the state, was left uncorrected for nearly 40 minutes.

Hawaii has suspended emergency alert drills following the mishap, but will still issue alerts should there be a true emergency, according to the FCC.

The midnight shift supervisor placed a call, pretending to be U.S. Pacific Command, to day shift warning officers, according to a timeline of events leading up to the false alarm.

But the message erroneously contained the language, "This is not a drill," in a break from the drill's standard script.

A screen capture from a Twitter account showing a missile warning for Hawaii, U.S., January 13, 2018 in this picture obtained from social media. (SOCIAL MEDIA/REUTERS)

The employee responsible for the botched alert heard did not hear the phrase "Exercise, exercise, exercise," which was also a part of the recording, according to the FCC's preliminary report on the incident.

The day shift warning officer interpreted the threat as real, and intentionally transmitted a live incoming ballistic missile report to the State of Hawaii.

This involved selecting the template for the live alert from a drop down menu.

In response to a prompt reading, "Are you sure that you want to send this Alert?" the employee clicked "yes."